Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard reacts to an apparent injury in action against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. / Mark D. Smith, USA TODAY Sports

by Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY Sports

by Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY Sports

Just when Dwight Howard breaks through with the Lakers, the All-Star center faces a backlash from the teammates he left behind.

Despite a stellar outing against the Hornets in the Lakers' comeback win Wednesday, Howard had a fresh controversy waiting for him at his locker thanks to comments he made to KCAL-TV earlier in the week. While discussing his eight years with the Magic, Howard said, "My team in Orlando was a team full of people who nobody wanted, and I was the leader and I led that team with a smile on my face."

Want to guess who hates being called a person "nobody wanted"? Everybody.

Howard's former teammates learned of the comments in short order and shot back at the three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

"At some point, when are you [Dwight] gonna as a man, when are you going to take ownership and stay out of the media in a professional manner?" Magic point guard Jameer Nelson told theOrlando Sentinel on Wednesday.

Former Magic shooting guard J.J. Redick echoed those sentiments.

"I'm not surprised by it," Redick, now with the Milwaukee Bucks, told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Wednesday. "I would be more surprised when Dwight starts taking responsibility. That would be the most negative thing I can say, but that's the truth.

"You can't take all the credit and not accept any of the blame."

Howard recognized the media maelstrom he created and quickly backpedaled, saying his words were misinterpreted.

"My statement was just to say that our team that I played with in Orlando, we were the underdogs," Howard said, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com. "Nobody really talked about our team. It was underrated. Everybody overlooked us for the whole time I was there in Orlando and I hated that. We all hated that. We thrived off that. My comments were never to say anything disrespectful to those guys."

Howard can claim his words were manipulated, but Nelson and Redick suggested that his comments are not out of character. And former Magic forward Rashard Lewis and former Magic general manager Otis Smith both scolded Howard for his comments, as well.

Regardless of the truth to Howard's statement, lobbing grenades at a group that made the 2009 NBA Finals is unbecoming for a player who had such a nasty divorce from the team that drafted him. And the comments aren't likely to fade away with Howard's first return trip to Orlando looming on March 12.